26 November 2019 
 
2019 PRESIDENT’S REPORT 
 
2019 was a special year for Calgary West Little League (CWLL), as well as for me personally. 
On the field we once again had more than 1000 spring season players take the field wearing CWLL uniforms and 100 participants (eight teams) in summer all-star divisions. While this high level of participation has quickly become the CWLL norm, it was a special year as a result of team performances on the diamond and given the fact 2019 was going to be my fifth and final year having the honour of being league president. Thank-you to the hundreds of volunteers who donated the time and energy required to provide a safe and enjoyable baseball experience for our 1000-plus kids.  
 
The recent participation growth in CWLL’s younger divisions was reflected in its continued growth in teenage divisions. CWLL fielded 12 teenage teams, with 5 in Intermediate, 4 in Junior and 3 in Senior, representing an increase of 3 teams from 2018. These teams were successful in their participation in the District 8 Interlock schedule and led to CWLL fielding an Intermediate AAA team and Teenage AA team that captured the Alberta Teenage AA Sectional championship. 
 
In terms of performance, CWLL’s highlight of the 2019 season was capturing the Alberta Little 
League Championship for the first time since 2007 (improving on the 2018 performance where CWLL lost in the provincial final) and advancing to the Canadian Little League Championship held in Ancaster, Ontario. The provincial championship was held for the first time at Stanley Park and provided the seven competing teams with an amazing venue for the week-long event, culminating with CWLL defeating Fish Creek Little League in an exciting 6-5 final. The Canadian championship in Ancaster was an extremely enjoyable seven team tournament, held at an equally impressive diamond. Although CWLL did not win to advance to the Little League World Series, the team did manage a 3-3 record and advanced to a semi-final game, taking a strong Quebec team to an extra inning loss. This summer experience provided twelve CWLL players, coaches and families with an experience to last a lifetime. 
 
CWLL continued its efforts to improve and enhance the development opportunities provided to players, coaches and umpires. Our ongoing relationship with Absolute Baseball Academy continued through our hosting of our Winter Camp for three age groups, providing 90 players with 20 hours of off-season training. The coaching development program started in 2018 through a partnership with Diamondawgs continued and was enhanced with the addition of hitting and pitching/catching specific clinics, in addition to general coaching clinics. Finally, CWLL’s umpire crew continued its technical development with a 2-day pre-season clinic, as well as through the development of two of our senior umpires who attended the Little League International Umpire School in Williamsport. Player, coach and umpire skill development is critical to ensuring league success. 
 
We continued to look for opportunities to enhance our kids’ baseball experience in 2019. We once again hosted our Major Division Don Young Classic (16 teams) at Shouldice Athletic Park over the May long weekend, with the CWLL Orioles eventually winning a rescheduled championship following significant rainy weather in May. The now 2nd Annual Minors Division tournament (12 teams) also took place at Shouldice with the CWLL Dodgers winning that championship. In addition to these tournaments we also continued to utilize the beautiful Stanley Park diamond for league and playoff games. Our teenage players were provided with an additional playing opportunity in the form of a travel team that competed in a couple tournaments against Baseball Alberta competition. And finally, our Rookie Ball program underwent a bit of an overhaul to ensure this machine-pitch age category is as effective as possible as a transition between T-Ball and Minors. The baseball season is not long in Calgary but maximizing the use of our diamonds and adding fun and competitive experiences that come with tournaments and travel teams is an ongoing CWLL objective. 
 
In addition to providing our kids with the opportunity to experience the wonderful game of baseball, we feel that this league provides its families with the opportunity to get to know each other a little better. In addition to regular games where this can take place, we also continued our tradition of hosting Opening Day as a full-day of activities at Springbank Park For All Seasons and hosted our now 4th Annual First Pitch Parent Social, for the second time at Richmond Pub. Our social media presence also continued to grow with much more effort spent supporting our CWLL Facebook and Twitter accounts. 
 
The 2020 season kicks off on January 1 with the opening of our on-line registration with evaluations slated to start at Absolute Baseball Academy in February and Opening Day in April. 
 
As customary, I want to thank all our volunteers who coached, sent emails, kept score, counted pitches, umpired, prepared the fields, got the kids to their practices and games on time…our kids’ baseball experience is directly tied to your efforts. I also want to especially thank the small group of volunteers that comprise our league Executive. Not everyone knows the time and energy you put into making CWLL the successful Little League it is, but I do, and I want to personally say thanks…it truly is a great team to work with!  
 
With respect to the league Executive, we are saying goodbye to two board members who have been involved as coaches (both spring and summer all-star) in addition to their roles as Player Agent and Safety Officer. Thank-you to Trent Stuart and Mike Burnyeat for the time and energy you both have put into CWLL. Also stepping away is Trever Schmitt who had been a VP on the Board for several years prior to last, when he fulfilled the role of CWLL Teenage Coordinator (in addition to also being a spring and summer coach, as he’s also done for many previous years). If you’re looking for Trever next season you may still find him working on the mounds at Richmond Green! 
 
And lastly, as was announced in last year’s Presidents Report, 2019 was going to be my fifth and final year having the privilege of executing the role of CWLL President. While I look back with pride at all that the league has accomplished since 2015, I know for CWLL to continue to grow and succeed it is time for someone with new ideas and more importantly, new energy, to take the reins (being able to go out on top having won the Alberta Little League Championship with an amazing group of 12 families is just too perfect!). These five years (and seven in total involved with CWLL) have been amazing and I want to thank everyone who has been involved with CWLL for helping to make it such an enjoyable organization to be a part of.  
 
And while it is true that everyone involved with CWLL has contributed in some way to an amazing last five years as President, there are some people who helped make the job easier and, therefore, more enjoyable. I’d like to say a special thank-you to the following people: Shannon Gerla, Brent Fleming, Trever Schmitt, Glen and Rhonda Lindsay, Trent Stuart, Mike Burnyeat, Graham Tite, Trevor Selanders, Dave Brown, Tamara Remillard, Dan Oelhaupl, 
Elizabeth Mannas, Kevin Matiasz, Judy Derhun, Layne Kilbreath, Pat Breault, Lande Edmiston, Mark Heppner, Eric Nicholson, Chris May, Don Young, Mike and Sandy Blair, Darlene McLaughlin, Josh Matthews, Al Chatenay, Jordy Alexander and Kevin Redshaw.